Roses are Red... Violet is Dead by Monica-Marie Vincent

Roses are Red … Violet is Dead by Monica-Marie Vincent reads like a typical teenaged horror story should. First there's the girl who unwittingly becomes the object of obsession. Then there's the family drama that keeps it interesting and gives the lead character, Violet, also known as Six, depth and reader sympathy. Next is the tight-knit but troubled clique of friends, because what teenaged horror story would be complete without a clique? And of course, it wouldn't be scary without a crazed psycho-killer on the loose.

The book's fast pace and quick tempo kept my head in the story from the very first ominous text Violet received. That was a good thing because had it read any slower the dysfunction within the central clique would have really gotten to me. Luckily the action moved me from one scene to the next quickly and fluidly so I didn't have too much time to over analyze the dynamics of the friendships all that much. The dialogue was much more difficult for me to wade through. I feel like all of the character conversations were riddled with overused cliches and puns that got old after only a few chapters. Again if it hadn't been for the pace of the story it would have driven me crazy but I was unable to roll my eyes and give up because I wanted to know what would happen next.

Despite my frustrations, and to be fair to the story, I have to say, the book is filled with little jewels I truly appreciated. While it would have been easy for the author to keep it totally cliched, she spoke to some real and relevant issues teenaged kids face these days. The story shed light on the dangers of texting and driving and gave readers a feel and understanding for what it's like to be a victim on the other end of the accident. More than that the story was sprinkled with alternatives to texting while driving. I applaud the author for speaking up on a difficult but relevant issue.

All in all it was exactly what I'd expect from a story in this genre and then some because of the author's boldness in speaking out against a real-world problem in the lives of teenagers these days. I openly admit this genre isn't my cup of tea and so my review should be taken with a grain of salt.

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Monica-Marie Vincent writes Young Adult novels about troubled teens and even more troubled parents. She currently lives in Sacramento, CA although she would rather be in her home town of San Francisco. Thanks to her very put upon husband Monica-Marie is always well stocked with coffee, Diet Coke, and Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos, so she wouldn't have to move away from her writerly lair to do mundane things like shopping.